All change, all change…

You may have noticed that things have been a little quieter around here over the past couple of weeks. There’s a good reason for that: I’ve started a new job. Fortunately everything is settling down, and I’m having a ball at work.

This is how my new-look day gets under way:

Yes indeed: I’ve been reborn as a commuter. The new office is a two-hour train ride away, in Manchester, so I’m getting accustomed to the early starts. The little shower timer, which turned up in the post as one of my water-saving freebies, has turned out to be a godsend. (By the way, if you haven’t snagged your water company freebies yet, read this post to find out more.)

At least getting out of the house this early means that I get a seat on the train. However you know what they say: every silver lining has a cloud. Here is mine, in the form of a monthly season ticket:

I know, right? OUCH. It’s more than my monthly mortgage payment! You could get a return flight to my favourite transatlantic holiday destination for that: something I am currently ruminating upon, as I gaze out of the drizzle-spattered window at the grey platform of Dewsbury rail station, where a man is picking his nose.

Sadly, at time of writing, I have signally failed to find a way to slash the cost of this train ticket. Even the ingenious ticket splitting site cannot help. A house move is on the cards; it has to be. In the meantime I am medicating with sleep, homemade flapjacks and an iPod diet of Nina Simone and Dolly. Send help! You’ll find me inside a TransPennine Express train just outside Huddersfield, listening to our conductor Paul explain which of the loos are out of order today.

Although it’s all change here, some things continue. As you may have guessed, in the light of eyewatering travel bills, the thrifty mission continues. 😉

As of today though, I am making a couple of small but significant changes to the Miss Thrifty Blog. This is as much for housekeeping as anything. The Miss Thrifty Blog is six years old now (hip hip hooray!) and, this far in, it seems strange to have posts about long-expired discount offers from 2008 and 2009 still sitting around on the site.

So from today, most of the deals, coupons and bargain buys featured here will be moving to the email newsletter, for subscribers only, although I will still be sharing them on Twitter and Facebook. As ever, you can subscribe here.